Elite Musicians: More Than a Physical Training

Abstract Musical activity can generate various responses, depending on whether the one listening to music is a musician or not. Recent studies proved that brain activity is higher in an active musician, meaning the one who practices music by playing an instrument, than in a passive musician or a non-musician, meaning the one who does not practice music or is just listening. Such studies showed that similar musical activities generate different responses for an active musician and a non-musician. In this article, we have collected various empirical studies to prove that elite musicians go beyond whichever physical activity. Thus, when active musicians are compared to elite athletes, the merit of the first ones is underestimated, because they are required to do physical activity along with a high level of mental activity (much more than concentration), as they perform many different actions at the same time. To complete our study we passed some questionnaires, previously validated by external experts, to specialists in the fields of music, psychology and neurology, through which we were able to know their point of view regarding the activity and effort that the people who study or practice music.